The Angel of the Lord

"And the angel of the LORD found her [Hagar] by a fountain of water in the wilderness, by the fountain in the way to Shur; and he said, Hagar, Sarai's maid, whence camest thou? And whither wilt thou go? And she said, I flee from the face of my mistress Sarai. And the angel of the LORD said unto her, Return to thy mistress, and submit thyself under her hands. And the angel of the LORD said unto her, I will multiply thy seed exceedingly, that it shall not be numbered for multitude. And the angel of the LORD said unto her, Behold, thou art with child, and shalt bear a son, and shalt call his name Ishmael; because the LORD hath heard thy affliction. And he will be a wild man; his hand will be against every man, and every man's hand against him; and he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren. And she called the name of the LORD that spake unto her, Thou God seest me: for she said, Have I also here looked after him that seeth me? Wherefore the well was called Beerlahairoi; behold, it is between Kadesh and Bered. And Hagar bare Abram a son: and Abram called his son's name, which Hagar bore, Ishmael. And Abram was fourscore and six years old, when Hagar bare Ishmael to Abram." (Genesis 16:7-16)

The direction that Hagar is heading indicates that she is on her way back to Egypt, most likely where she has relatives. This show her desperation; for to embark on a trip such as this, alone, would have been difficult for her to survive. Fortunately, for her sake and that of the child she is carrying, the Lord comes to her aid. Something that needs to be noted here is that whatever religion is practiced by a household in those times, such was the religion of the servants as well. When Hagar encounters God, her reaction shows us that she has been taught (or learned through Abram's behavior) who God is.

This passage begins with the first mention of a term that we will see many times again in our studies: "the angel of the LORD." Hagar gives this angel a name that means "Thou God seest me" or "You are a God that sees me." In other words, Hagar ascribes deity to this angel; indeed, she calls this angel GOD.

We will find many example of the term "angel" being used in the bible with no one ascribing the terminology of "GOD" to those angels. And we will find many other examples (approximately 79 times) of the term "angel of the Lord" in which it is clear to us that it is God Himself speaking to the selected individual, and that individual always knows that they are speaking to God. What most scholars believe to be true, as a result, is that the terminology "the angel of the Lord" refers to Jesus, albeit Jesus in a heavenly form rather than His later human form. Thus this particular angel is called the "pre-incarnate Jesus." Why the term "angel" is applied at all is still a bit of a mystery to me. Angels are created beings, and we know that Jesus is not a created being but as John chapter 1 tells us Jesus is the Word and the "Word was with God, and the Word WAS God." John goes on to tell us that all things were created by Jesus, who was in the beginning with God. Jesus could not create Himself obviously, and if ALL things were created by Him, then He himself was not created.

So, while "angel" is a bit confusing, just remember that whenever the Bible says "angel of the Lord" it is referring to Jesus. In fact, for further proof of this, one particular verse in Zechariah 3:1-4 confirms that this is Jesus. The New Testament spells out clearly to us that Jesus is the only One able to take away our sins, and yet the "angel of the Lord" in the passage in Zechariah claims to take Joshua's iniquity away from him. It can therefore only be Jesus.

Another interesting point in this passage is that the "angel of the Lord" refers to Hagar as "Sarai's maid" rather than as "Abram's second wife." I believe this to be clear evidence that God does not recognize that legal marriage between Abram and Hagar, even if society, and even Sarai, does. It goes completely unacknowledged by God.

The third very interesting point here is that the angel of the Lord prophecies that Hagar's unborn child will be a boy, and that she will call him Ishmael, which means, 'God will hear;" and then the angel of the Lord goes on to describe him as a future wild man, which in the most literal translation of that Hebrew term means: "wild ass man." That is not meant as some sort of vulgarity, but rather that he will be as wild as a "wild ass." Matthew Henry describes the meaning as: rude, bold, fearing no man, untamed, untractable, living in strife and a state of war at all times with all men.

Biblical scholars believe that Ishmael is the ancestor of the Arab nation. Many Arabs are also Muslim (although not all, for some Arabs are also Christians); those that are Muslims, and believers in the writings of the Quran, find themselves opposed (by commandment of the Quran) to any who do not believe in Allah, and are commanded by the Quran to kill those who do not believe; thus you could say they are always in a "state of war." But it seems that this state of war that many Muslims find themselves in, began with their ancestor Ishmael.

At this point in our study, I'd like to pause for a moment to say something about Muslims; especially one specific Muslim known as Osama Bin Laden who was recently killed. I believe justice was done when he was killed, after all he was the murderer of over 2000 people in the twin towers alone, much less all else that has been attributed to him. Yet, even so, I was appalled that there was "rejoicing in the streets" in America and elsewhere over his death. The death of an unrepentant sinner, which Osama Bin Laden most certainly was, is not something to rejoice about. I hope these were not followers of Christ who rejoiced, in fact, I believe we can safely assume that they were not true followers of Christ. The Word of God tells us that this man is now condemned to spend eternity suffering in hell. The Word also tells us that God so loved "the world (including Osama Bin Laden) that He gave His only begotten Son so that whosever would believe in Him would not perish but would have life everlasting." (John 3:16). The word "perish" in this passage, indicates eternal suffering, rather than extinction; something that the same passage tells us that each and every human being on this earth is sadly guaranteed to experience if they do not receive Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. In order to do that, we must repent of our sins against God and receive the gift that God has provided in the form of His Son, Jesus Christ. If instead, we reject God's gracious gift of His Son, who became the ultimate sacrifice and atonement for our own sins, then our destiny is irrevocably set on hell rather than heaven. That soul is eternally lost.

God does not rejoice over the loss of one of His creatures, and neither should we. Certainly, we all seek justice and God Himself provides justice to all; but justice and rejoicing over another's suffering are two different things. I believe that those who rejoiced in the streets of any nation, including our own, at Bin Laden's death, reduced themselves to the same evil as those who rejoiced when the Twin Towers fell. And if they claim to be rejoicing thinking that evil is now at an end, they need to read the Word of God; the death of this one man will not end the evil that he participated in. That evil will not end until the Lord Jesus Christ returns and ends it Himself. Thankfully, He will do so soon.

I am saying this to remind us all that no matter if we meet Muslims or Hindus or any other religion that is not equal to ours, we are to LOVE, not HATE. The violent nature of the Quran causes us to be suspicious of, and sometimes even fearful of, Muslims. But the attitude of Muslims has no bearing on how we are to behave. "Perfect love casts out all fear." Either our love for others is perfected in Jesus Christ or we do not have Christ within us as we think. In fact, Muslims are coming to Christ every day. They, like all of us, seek hope and find it in Christ.

The Lord certainly did not hold anything against Hagar. He didn't hold against her that she was the second, and in His eyes, illegal wife to Abram. He didn't hold against her that she was hateful to her mistress, Sarai. He didn't even hold against her that her son would be one given to war. He loved her, provided for her, guided her back to her home with Sarai, and counseled her on how to act; all the while giving her much hope for her future with her child.

We who are called to follow Jesus, should walk as He did: in love and encouragement, rather than suspicion, fear and hatred.